Il Pollo, Monday Night

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

So. Ray had a date. A real, actual date. Okay, the lady in question had been a little sketchy on the details to that regard, but it wasn't gonna stop him from tossing on his best shirt and jacket and making his way over to the establishment in question.

Where he was gonna wait. Apparently he was early. Whoops.

[ ray's here for one, but the restaurant is clearly open for all other uses ]

Comments

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

Mary arrived on time, wearing one of her distinctive dresses. "Hi Ray! Did I get the time right? I hope you weren't waiting too long," she said.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"Your timing is golden," he said, grinning at her. "You, uh, you look nice." He had a way with words, Ray.

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"You're looking pretty handsome yourself," said Mary, smiling in return. It was the friendly kind of thing she would have said to a friend like Danny McCoy.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"You look good, I look good, it's all good," Ray said, gesturing back and forth to make his point, "How's about we head in and get some pasta?"

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a great idea to me. I'm starving," said Mary.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"Never wait too long on food," Ray replied, pushing open the door and holding it open in some attempt at chivalry, "That's what I always say."

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"It will be nice to have some company with food," said Mary as she entered the restaurant. "Ever since my fiancé moved out, I'm afraid I've been eating alone much too often."

Ex-fiances were probably not a safe date topic, but this was a not-date, so Mary figured it was okay to be honest.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

Huh. Well, she was straightforward. "...Well, eating with somebody else is a lot more fun," Ray said, sorta kinda seguing a little. Ex-talk, not really his strongest point. "Used to do it with my partner all the time."

... And comparing the girl to his cop partner. Smooth.

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"I do have Gunther, of course, but he's not exactly the best company," said Mary. "And I have lots of friends in town. I guess I just spent too long sitting at home feeling sorry for myself."

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

He picked a table at random and sat down. Well, okay, maybe he'd kinda looked around before, but it was a nice table, dammit. "Who's Gunther?" Ray asked. Huh. Probably should try the chivalry thing with the chairs-- he got up again. "I know the feeling."

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"He's my chef at the hotel, and pretty much the only person who came with me from Las Vegas. He's also a pain in the neck," said Mary, taking a seat.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

Or that worked. Halfway up out of his seat, Ray leaned back to park his ass right back. "So you're from Las Vegas?" he asked, "The Silver State. Must be a change."

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"More than you know," said Mary. "Until I got to Fandom, I'd never even been to the east coast. The weather takes a bit of getting used to."

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it's kinda mild, isn't it?" Chitchat about the weather. Ray, you were not getting any smoother.

He waved over a waiter.

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"In Vegas, they kept the pools open for another 6 weeks after Labor Day. They called it Groundhog Summer. There are times I'll think of grabbing my bikini and heading for the beach on my day off, and then I remember where I am," chuckled Mary.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"Groundhog Summer, huh?" He grinned at her. Hopefully looked natural. "I'm from, uh, Chicago, myself. Cold when it's supposed to be cold, warm when it's supposed to be cold, and no paint falling out of the sky, neither."

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"Another place that I've never been to, but I hear it's pretty exciting," said Mary. "What brought you all the way out here?"

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"Exciting. Exciting's a good word for it," he said, dropping the grin to slightly more human levels as soon as the waiter tossed them some menus. "Um... I've been working as a flatfoot for a long time. Guess they just got tired of me, so I got transferred. Not too bad, an old partner of mine lives here, so, yeah."

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"A friend of mine turned up here as a teacher, not that he realized I was here," said Mary, glancing through her menu. "I kind of slipped away without telling anyone. It was a nice coincidence that Mike found me."

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

Pasta. Ray liked pasta. He just wasn't completely sure what kinda pasta he liked, so he studied the menu hard. "That must've been a, uh, good surprise. Me, I already knew Fraser was here. Just didn't expect the crazy letters to be all true."

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"Like the dinosaurs and cute fuzzy aliens falling from the sky? It's all true," giggled Mary. "I even have the scar to prove it."

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"...You were here for the dinosaur thing?" Shut up, maybe the 'dinosaur thing' kind of lived in his imagination a little.

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"I even have some pictures back at the hotel," said Mary. "It was something else. I had a little run-in with a saber-tooth tiger that tried to eat me for breakfast."

Of course, that's because Mary went out looking for trouble after dark.

[headkickpoet.livejournal.com]

"So... you had dinosaurs... and saber-tooth tigers?" He had not heard about the tigers. "I'm sorry. Musta been pretty, uh, harrowing. How'd you make it out?" And where the hell had Fraser been?

[montecito-east.livejournal.com]

"I took a few shots at the tiger and managed to wound it, but not before it knocked me down and took a swipe at my leg," said Mary. "And all the shots got the attention of a guy staying at the hotel. He came along shortly afterwards and took me to the clinic."